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Juvenile killed in accidental shooting in Pataskala, one in custody

A male juvenile was killed in a shooting in Pataskala early Sunday, according to police.

The shooting occurred on Granville Street around 12:45 a.m., according to Pataskala police and the Licking County sheriff’s office.

Officers arrived to find the male juvenile dead at the scene, police said Sunday.

Another male juvenile was in custody Sunday, and police believe he is responsible for the shooting.

Police said the names of both juveniles would not be released until relatives were notified.

In a now deleted post to a Facebook group, Mayor Mike Compton reported an “accidental shooting in the city, involving two juveniles, resulting in one death.”

Compton confirmed to The Dispatch what he had written in the deleted Facebook post, but said he could make no other comments.

In a later Facebook post on Sunday, Southwest Licking Schools Superintendent Kasey Perkins referred to a “tragic accident” that left a Watkins Memorial High School freshman dead.

Counselors and psychologists will be on hand at the high school and middle school on Monday to assist students, the superintendent said.

The death is the second caused by what is believed to be an accidental shooting in Pataskala in roughly a month after a two-year-old was killed in mid December. During a 911 call, the mother said that shooting was done by the victim's 6-year-old brother, but authorities have yet to release who they believe fired the weapon.